Travelers can sweeten their odds by of finding a dry Caribbean beach in hurricane season by choosing the right island. The safest bets: Aruba, Bonaire or Cura√ßao, the so-called ABC islands, all at the southernmost tip of the Lesser Antilles; Trinidad and Tobago, beyond the southern end of the Windwards; and Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela.

These islands have only a 2 percent chance of a serious storm in hurricane season, according to NOAA, partly because their proximity to the equator prevents the wind conditions hurricanes require. Also, most major storm systems originate in Africa about 10 degrees north of the equator, head northwest across the Atlantic and are usually at a higher latitude than these islands by the time they reach the Caribbean.